Chaotic, messy, and horribly mind-numbing...
Shorts (2009)
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Reviews Counted:89
Fresh:40
Rotten:49
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Shorts has imagination and energy, but most viewers beyond elementary school will likely tire of the kiddie humor and sensory overload.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for mild action and some rude humor.
Runtime: 89 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:Aug 21, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $20,875,468
Synopsis: Shorts is set in the suburb of Black Falls, where all the houses look the same and everyone works for BLACK BOX Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated, whose Mr. Black’s BLACK BOX is the... Shorts is set in the suburb of Black Falls, where all the houses look the same and everyone works for BLACK BOX Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated, whose Mr. Black’s BLACK BOX is the ultimate communication and do-it-all gadget that’s sweeping the nation. Other than keeping his parents employed, however, Mr. Black’s BLACK BOX has done nothing for 11-year-old Toe Thompson, who just wants to make a few friends…until a mysterious rainbow-colored rock falls from the sky, hits him in the head and changes everything. The Rainbow Rock does Mr. Black’s BLACK BOX one better: it grants wishes to anyone who holds it. Before long, wishes-gone-wrong have left the neighborhood swarming with tiny spaceships, crocodile armies, giant boogers…and outrageous magical mayhem around every corner. But it’s not until the grown-ups get their hands on the Rock that the trouble really starts. Now Toe and his newfound friends must join forces to save their town from itself, discovering along the way that what you wish for is not always what you want. --© Warner Bros [More]
Starring: Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, James Spader
Starring: Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, James Spader, Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Leo Howard, Devon Gearhart, Rebel Rodriguez, Jake Short, Jolie Vanier
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Screenwriter: Robert Rodriguez
Producer: Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellan
Composer: Robert Rodriguez, Carl Thiel, George Oldziey
Studio: Warner Bros.
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Reviews for Shorts
Yes, it's definitely made for the much younger set, but it also has quite a few zany little off guard touches, resulting in genuine laughs for anyone who can appreciate the humor.
...what poignancy is served injecting heavy messages about parenting... into a movie which glorifies the suburban existence, makes light of bullying, and gratuitously employs property destruction for comic effect?
...a mishmash of slapstick fights, tiny green men, galumphing alligators, nose picking, giant booger monsters, and endless silliness.
Shorts is constantly pinballing back and forth, from one thing to the next, in such a hyperactive fashion that one wishes it would just slow down a bit.
A fun trifle -- essentially, a homemade 'Little Rascals' update in which youngsters with a 'wishing rock' wreak accidental havoc (and create upright crocodiles, a giant dung beetle, a 'big bad booger' monster and an intellectual telepathic baby).
Good clean fun is what Robert Rodriguez delivers in this energetic and inventive film about wishes and being connected.
Boy, is this dumb. I mean in the way that something can be so silly and disgusting it's dumb.
That potential is not realized in "Shorts" primarily because of the chaotic structure of the story, which lurches back through a series of disjointed flashbacks.
Dives straight into whiz-bang gizmoland, opting for “pause, rewind” flourishes. Cute and enjoyable family fare, then, if a little forced.
It's a vacuous feature, devoid of any charms; a cartoon mishmash missing fizz and ingenuity to make it bearable to any audience member crazy enough to evolve beyond a fascination with nostril functions.
This is a movie only an 8 year old could make up, or Robert who seems to be insanely connected to his kids. And that's a wonderful thing.
A movie aimed at kids which will have adults complaining it isn't short enough
This loud and energetic work won't add much value to family frolic films and messages that warn one to be careful what you wish for.
Although it's a film that's constructed around wish-fulfilment gone awry and a series of madcap chases, Shorts also has a heart. Rodriguez's best kids film yet.
In the Disneyfied dumbed-down marketplace for kids' films, there's something daring and even refreshing in a movie which messes with conventional narrative. If only it wasn't so frantic.
The special effects aren’t up to scratch and the scrappy, episodic conceit detracts rather than enhances.
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August 20, 2009:
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August 20, 2009:
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This week at the movies, we've got Nazi killers (Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, starring Brad Pitt), a magic rock (Shorts, starring William H. Macy and Leslie Mann),... More...
June 19, 2009:
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April 19, 2009:
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